Sometimes the way forward begins with going back.
I spent decades trying to escape the rooms that shaped me. The apartment where Child Protective Services came. The stranger's couch where I woke up ashamed. The living room where I decided to leave California for good. The hospital room where I fought for my life. The rooms that held my addiction, my divorce, my unrecognizable body.
I thought healing meant locking those doors forever.
I was wrong.
This memoir is about walking back into every room I've been afraid of - slowly, honestly, letting in the light. It's about discovering that bravery isn't fearlessness. It's showing up for yourself when you're exhausted. It's breaking the cycles that shaped you. It's piecing yourself back together, even when you don't recognize who you're becoming.
For anyone who's ever felt trapped by their past, afraid of their future, or exhausted from pretending to be okay - this is your invitation to step into the rooms that terrify you. Because that's where the healing lives.
